North Carolina Supreme Court Rules Law Violates Rights of Veteran Teachers

North Carolina’s Supreme Court says state lawmakers violated the constitutional rights of veteran teachers by taking away job protections they’d already earned.

The state’s high court ruled unanimously April 15 that the General Assembly can’t retroactively repeal the job protections veteran teachers were promised. The judges said lawmakers could stop new teachers from earning the same type of protections since the law passed in mid-2013.

North Carolina protects teachers earning career status after at least four years in a school district. They can’t be fired or demoted except for outlined reasons that include poor performance, immorality and insubordination. They also have the right to a hearing to challenge their firing or demotion.

Republican lawmakers argued ending those protections would make it easier to get rid of bad teachers, improving classroom performance.